Ivy's 3rd Birthday Fun

This first set of pictures is from our little celebration at the park with Ivy's friends. Many of her friends were leaving town for the weekend so we decided to celebrate with some cupcakes a few days before her actual birthday. So glad we did it that day because the next couple days ended up being rainy and cold! 

All her friends singing happy birthday to her.. Love all these kiddos!

Ivy's big day! My parents actually flew into town the day before to visit and we were so excited they could spend Ivy's birthday with us. I was also grateful to have a good distraction while Sam studied for his finals most of the weekend. Anyways, we started out the day opening gifts before Sam had to run off to school. No big gift this year; instead, just lots of smaller gifts.... She got her first backpack and was very excited about it. Also lots of books, Minnie Mouse Pet Salon(totally scored one for cheap on amazon!), and a Cinderella carriage to go with her little people castle:

 

While Sam was studying for a few hours, we showed Mema and Grandpa around our area and stopped at the library for some playtime. Then met Sam for lunch at the Pineapple Tea Room in the Cumberland Gap for lunch:

 

Grandpa showing Ivy how to make "3" with her fingers:

Looks like "2" but that third finger is up, lol:

Spent the afternoon making her cake with Mema, then changed back into her birthday outfit for dinner out at Heavy's BBQ (pics in the next post). Came home for cake and ice cream, which she was very excited about. It was hilarious watching her try to blow out the candles. She hasn't quite perfected the art of blowing actual air. Ends up just spitting everywhere, haha. Lovely.

Mema making sure she doesn't burn herself (she's done that before! Ha!):

Recruiting helpers, hehe:

\

Happy Birthday baby girl!!! Can't believe how grown up you are! Glad we were able to have a happy, fun-filled day!

Ivy Luella at 3 years

My girl turned 3 years old a couple weeks ago and just wanted to write a little bit about what this chickadee has been up to lately. Her hair is actually straightened in these first few pics. It just makes her look so grown up! Eek! 

This brown-eyed cutie is a riot these days. She has a pretty articulate vocabulary that keeps increasing by the day! Sometimes she says things that I have no idea where she could've picked them up from. And she is most definitely speaking in elaborate sentences as well, some of which, just kill me. 

Me:"Ivy, why don't you get some carrots out for a snack." 

Ivy:"Welllllll.... howww about a popsicle instead." Lol.

-She loves her Little People (still), Minnie Mouse dress up dolls, puzzles, play doh, all things princess (dress ups, figurines, etc), painting, coloring, stickers, and making necklaces with pony/animal beads. 

-Loves to help mommy make cookies or anything that requires mixing in the bowl. :) 

-Loves helping mommy "clean," especially sweeping. Has her own broom to help me. 

-Loves all things girly: skirts, dresses, jewelry, bows, painted nails, changing her clothes often throughout the day (usually wears what she wants until we have to leave the house).

-Loves to sing more than dance (not much coordination, there, haha) and is also fascinated in all things instrumental. Can name the violin, trumpet, guitar, and more. 

-Loves classical music, especially when Sam plays it on the piano. 

-Most recently has caught the "Frozen" bug and asks to listen to the music just about every day. 

-She can almost count to twenty by herself (kind of) and knows the alphabet song, but not really any letters yet. Doesn't seem interested in learning to identify them yet. She is still in such a fun, silly, playful stage that I don't feel like pushing anything. 

 

She is potty trained (except for at night) and is successfully sleeping great in her big girl bed. She (still) eats like a bird and I'm lucky if I can get her to sit still for an entire meal, lol. Very rarely takes naps but always has quiet time in her room each afternoon. She does best with an early bedtime, even though that means early wake time (around 6:30/7 ish) but it doesn't bother us. We'd rather have our evenings. 

These next few pics were taken on her actual birthday. Wanted to get some better ones outside but it was a cold rainy day. I have yet to take her out for an actual photo shoot. Someday soon! (Sorry some of the pics are a little out of focus, but she just looked so cute in them!)

I've said this since she was a baby but it still rings true to this day... I'm pretty sure she has her father's sense of humor. She is witty and cracks jokes and loves to rough house and tease. She will sit and do silly things to annoy me and get reactions out of me allllll day long. Such a tease. Also loves making little jokes up.. The other day, I caught her singing "Pickle.... Pickle.... to walk in the light," then would start giggling afterwards. It was hilarious.

She loves all things outdoors and will play at the park for hours on a good day. She loves running errands with mom, and basically does better when we are out and about at least for a small part of the day. Every week she somehow seems to learn a new song or play a new game. This week it is Duck, Duck, Goose. She sits and plays with her princess figurines now. hehe..

 

She is the best big sister any little brother could ask for and I know they are going to be great friends. When he was younger and upset, she would come to me and say "Mom! Brother! He's crying! Take care of him!" But now she just imitates me and says things like "it's okay buddy. We'll be home soon. Mom, he's just hungry." Ha! They are just starting to interact more lately, as Marshall becomes more mobile and aware of Ivy. The other day she was making him laugh in the car so loud, it was the cutest thing.

Just some snapshots of this crazy chick.... I love the last pic, she asks for braids almost every day lately. 

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year! We didn't do anything very grand to celebrate but my kids were well behaved and Sam made me an amazing bbq shrimp dinner and delicious pizookie for dessert. Couldn't ask for anything more! I just love my kiddos with all my heart and I love my role as their mom. Although being parents is not always easy (or enjoyable to be honest), Sam and I always try to stay on the positive side of things (usually through humor on Sam's part, hehe). Thanks babe for always being there for me! I wouldn't be a mother without you.. And I wouldn't be a good parent without you either! Thanks for keeping me sane and always helping me find a balance between being a mom and being myself. 

 

Marshall is 5 months!

My happy boy is 5 months now! Not a whole lot has changed since the last time I posted, except he is finally doing MUCH better at night.. Before, he was waking up twice still, and that was after a late dream feed. He used to go almost 6 hrs when he was younger and I just couldn't figure out why things were getting.. Then while talking with my girlfriends, whose younger babies were sleeping longer than him, I decided to just drop the dream feed (he was plenty old enough to go without it, I just needed a little push to make the decision, haha) and put him to bed around 7pm every night. The first couple nights he still woke up around midnight but I didn't feed him, and he fell back asleep at least for 2-3 more hours after that. Wahoo! Now he still wakes up around 2-3am and usually will go back to sleep for a couple more hrs, but sometimes I just end up feeding him. I know he will stretch that time out eventually but it feels SO wonderful to finally have my evenings to myself again, and feel like I can get a good chunk of sleep in too!

He can roll from both sides onto his belly and back again. Although, he seems pretty content on his back or side most of the time. Just lays and wiggles and swings rattles back and forth in his hand. He gets going pretty fast with his arm, it's hilarious. We are still working on sitting up every day, but his reflexes of swinging backwards are still pretty crazy, haha.. doesn't quite have the balance yet. But he looves his jumper. He's gotten pretty good at turning it to play with the different toys..

Here is Marshall with his buddies Maxwell (born in Feb) and Pierce (born in April). These two are just a few months younger than him. It's been pretty fun having babies alongside many of my good friends here. We have been in good company while our husbands are away studying.. 

 

This little guy really is such a happy go lucky goofball.. He can't NOT smile when he sees me. It's seriously adorable. And he is such a chatterbox these days. His favorite noise to make is actually a high pitched, loud, squeal that always sends Ivy running down the hallway. It startles her every time and she can't ever figure out whether to be scared or mad, or just laugh about it. Cracks me up.

Marshall loves his big sis SO much. He gets a kick out of watching her dance and jump around the living room and she couldn't be more happy to oblige. She has lately started taking his hand and putting toys in it for him. It's so fun to watch them interact and I know that is just going to get better. I can tell Ivy is just itching for a playmate these days.

(in case you were wondering, Ivy fell and skinned up her knees right before these photos were taken, poor thing. She was tough about it though.)

And finally a cute little video of the dude. He was quite chatty that morning..